Opinions Wanted - Pet Care Advice needed!

Posted 6 years, 9 months ago by Sobbloo

What would you do? (see info in post)

36 Votes Go with Vet One - They might be more expensive but the peace of mind is worth it!

3 Votes Go with Vet Two - You are being paranoid, Males are easier to fix and if they have experience that is what matters more.

1 Votes Neither! Keep calling around and find a vet that is closer and price appropriate. (May not be possible tbh)

Er....I hope this is ok to ask here.... >.>; Feel free to report and delete of not....

So we have four buns, three boys and a girl, all unfixed and living seperate atm. We have been trying to get them fixed for a while now. It is not a common thing in our area however.

I have managed to find 2 vets within an hours distance that can do it however I can't decide which would be the better option.

For info:

Males-

One is around 5 to 6 years old, a rescue who we got at around 2yrs old and is a medium sized lionhead/new zealand mix.

One is 3 yrs old, a Flemish Giant/Californian cross whom we've had since he was 8 wks from a meat breeder.

One is a tiny Lionhead/Neatherland dwarf cross who is approx 2yrs old, we've had since he was somewhere around 6 to 8wks from a farm store that sells "agriculture rabbits" aka anything anyone sells to them.

Then the Female is a tiny baby, around 6 to 8 wks, from the same chain the lionhead/neatherland is from. We belive either a lionhead mix OR jersey wooly mix, we'll have to wait till she's older to tell...

My "problem" - One vet was recomended to me by another vet, and I was told they were great and everyone they've sent to them was happy with the service. They charge 130 for males (total) and 180 for females (total). The prices are not unreasonable, and they are highly recomended. The vet there might be the same vet we were looking at who was in another city just north of where they are now, and is a licensed exotic vet. However, they are an hour from me, one way, which is painful, but I know I have to have the female done there because...

The second vet will only do males, but she said it was only 100, though I am waiting to hear back if that is the total cost or not. They were suggested by a client of theirs who has taken their ferrets to them but has not used their bunny neuter service. They are also much closer, only about 30 minutes, so getting to and from would be easier. However I am nervous because the vet said they will only do males as they had to many complications with females so they stopped doing them. This worries me as one bun is very small and one bun is getting on in age, and all are not from the best backgrounds health wise (though all have been healthy).

So on one hand I feel I am being to paranoid. Males are known to be easier to fix of ANY species, really. But at the same time I feel like if they were having issues fixing females then she is likely not a licensed small animal exotic vet and therefore not as safe an option for the buns.

Am I being paranoid? What would you do?

And for being so helpful here see pictures of my two boys! (the other two are my fiancees) Old man Mochi (the rescue) and a baby picture of Voldemort (my flemmie mix) (cause I can't find any recent pics on my computer XP)

Orpheus

Got some experience with having mice neutered, which is obviously even more unusual to most people and also read up on things relating to other small animals, since we have guinea pigs.

So first and foremost I have to say I'd personally really try to avoid having any procedure done on the older guy, because at that age the risk of them not getting over the narcosis very well is pretty high (even more so if they don't come from good backgrounds, as you say). Though if it has to be done, as bad as it sounds, you have to be at least aware of the risks. You should also check in if they will even try doing it on a rabbit that age, since at least here some vets will just straight out refuse to even take the risk. (On that note; they might also have a minimum age.)

On the point of deciding which vet to go with... that's certainly a hard decision. But personally, while I know neutering females is always a hard a risky operation, find it weird to hear that this particular vet just gave up on it? Then again, can't really judge them by that information alone. From my experience it's usually a good idea to listen to those who already know the vet, so I guess I would personally go with the one you heard so many good things about? Might be better to have it done in one go as well, since it will take a few weeks after the neutering until you can actually put them together.

Sobbloo

@Damin - With regards to my old man, the benifits outweigh the risks. As it stands he is approching the end of the road for most un fixed buns. If fixed he could have another 6 years ahead of him. I do understand the risk very well though, as I've had guinea pigs neutered in the past. One made it easy the other had complications and passed. Since buns do better in pairs as well having him fixed means I could finally do intros and that would (hopefully) improve his general "happiness".

And I agree it sounds weird to just give up fixing one gender hence my hesitation. I'venever heard of a vet doing that.

Thank you for your advice though!

Orpheus

@LitaRutherford

Totally with you on that a happy life is worth the risk! So I'm glad you are seeing it that way. We have lost a mouse to being neutered as well, but if we hadn't tried he would have had to spend his whole life all alone (and his brother actually made it), so I never regretted that either.

Sobbloo

Thank you so much everyone who has voted/given their opinion! I really appriciate it. I think we will definitly go for the first vet. I'm glad I am not the only one thinking the second vet seems...weird. Off? Something like that. And that at least 20 people don't think I'm paranoid. XD

argumentativeArtisan

Good choice. I've had a lot of animals, dogs, cats, hamsters, chickens, fish, and three rabbits in particular, I've learned that although more costly, it's often worth it. Two of my rabbits died pretty young and I suspect this was genetic as they were all related and I heard the breeder had some dying recently after we got them (also like, the breeder was letting her little girl start showing/breeding rabbits and technically the kid sold us them). The other one escaped their hutch still see him running around sometimes. My actual issue with a vet was when our two cats died, they said it was a disease that couldn't be cured and was very rare, they also said it wasn't contagious. Which makes me wonder how they both got it ( unless it was genetic? but they didn't say it could be or what it was called) and it was contagious, why the other two cats never got it? Basically, everything from that place was shady, we even adopted them from there. I just wish we had listen to my gut and taken them to our usual vet, they've done all our check up, shots and neutering except for that one time. So I think you being a little paranoid is a good thing

clockrobber

From what I'm reading I'd go to the first vet. Someone who knows exotics is always better. I find it pretty dubious the second will only do males. If there were any complications with the males (not just anesthesia but if one of the males happens to be a cryptorchid or something out of the norm) I wouldn't be confident they could handle it. I know the drive is a real pain but in the long run it's probably worth it.

sleepy

As someone with a bunny, I'd personally choose to go to a more expensive vet who I know is reliable. The second vet you mentioned seems to a little, suspicious perhaps? to me too. Since I have my own rabbit, I've done some research on fixing them (since an unspayed bunny has a higher risk of getting cancer ;;), and its really important to go to a vet who knows their stuff.

mothgf

I don't have any experience with these sorts of animals so I won't give an opinion, just going to wish you luck with all this, and hopefully, whatever you decide to do proves to be the best choice! <3